Apple fans! this is supposed to be iPhone 5c a cheaper version of Galaxy S5 and the other one S5 Pro will have probably a 2k (quimick), metal cover (cheap metal), Octa-core (quimick) and ugly like this one! i'm not sure? but lets not get to excited yet and hold our jokes for later

Water resistance is one thing I'd like to see Apple jump on board with. I lost a 3GS to the perils of the bathroom.

And tbh I'd stick my phone into black and white mode permanently if it made a significant improvement to battery.

Water resistance and waterproof will be interesting for Apple to tackle. The Sony Xperia line has waterproof headphone jacks without port covers but the USB port still has a flap. Not being an engineer, I don't know if it is possible to waterproof a device while still having the two ports on the iPhone open. I don't think Apple would do a flap.

Black and white mode only benefits OLED screens. Wouldn't have any impact on the iPhone as it stands right now.

Unlike Apple who spent 400 million on an acquisition and 2 years of development....Samsung fast tracked their copy machine version of a fingerprint sensor and result is garbage. They can now put Fingerprint Scanner as a bullet point and lull people into thinking it "has the same thing as" the iPhone 5S. The truth is nothing of the sort.

Pulse tracker? Yeah that will get a lot of use.

Sorry, maybe you didn't see my second post. I'm talking about software features.

Also, we've been over the fingerprint sensor a hundred times since the rumor mill started about Samsung adding one. Apple wasn't the first with a fingerprint sensor on a phone, so I don't consider fair to say Samsung copied Apple in this way.

I haven't read all the posts to this article... so forgive me if I repeat someone else's question.... but....

Doesn't it seem of late that Samsung is setting its product roadmap to the voices of the Apple rumour mill?

Hmmm…wouldn't that be just nasty if someone was deliberately spreading credible but baseless rumors about future Apple products and features knowing that Samsung would rush something into production, thus causing Samsung to waste time, money, and resources not to mention damaging its fine, upstanding reputation for quality products? /s

I was thinking more along the lines of the fast autofocus, real time HDR, download booster, and "ultra power saving mode." Those all sound like features users can take advantage of relatively seamlessly.

Ironically, when Apple improves things like battery life, web download speed and camera features, the tech crowd whines incessantly about how disappointed they are about the lack of "innovation."

I much prefer Sony's new Z2 to this thing! If I were to go Android that is - which I'm not.

The new Sony looks great. I really like it from a hardware perspective but it still has a bit of bloat compared to the Nexus device. I wish Google would partner up with Sony for a Nexus device. I just got a Nexus 5 as a dev phone for some stuff I am working on and even with it not having the manufacturer or carrier bloat, it's not my iPhone 5s.

The second Apple releases a larger screen phone, a lot of Android OEMs are going to have a problem.

Also, we've been over the fingerprint sensor a hundred times since the rumor mill started about Samsung adding one. Apple wasn't the first with a fingerprint sensor on a phone, so I don't consider fair to say Samsung copied Apple in this way.

You are correct; Apple was not the first with a fingerprint sensor, but Apple was the first to implement a sensor that worked very well. Samsung is using a fingerprint sensor technology that has been proven buggy, but they used it anyway on their very first top-end phone after the iPhone. That makes it copying.

Gotta love all the tech geeks disappointed because Samsung didn't release some fantasy phone with crazy specs. Perhaps they're finding out that incremental updates are the norm, not just reserved for Apple.

I think its the other way around. Apple is always expected to innovate while Samsung and other have continually been given a free pass on innovation.

I predict you won't need to compare anything to Sony phones soon. They have finally started to exit market in which they are losing money.

PCs, most TVs and soon I predict phones.

I don't think so. If anything, Sony has been stepping up their game in mobile. Their MWC releases have been solid upgrades. They are leaning up a bit with other products and divisions but not being in mobile isn't something they could afford to do. Especially now with the Galaxy S5 being a disappointment for a lot of Android users, Sony might actually have an opening.

Water resistance is one thing I'd like to see Apple jump on board with. I lost a 3GS to the perils of the bathroom.

And tbh I'd stick my phone into black and white mode permanently if it made a significant improvement to battery.

Water resistance and waterproof will be interesting for Apple to tackle. The Sony Xperia line has waterproof headphone jacks without port covers but the USB port still has a flap. Not being an engineer, I don't know if it is possible to waterproof a device while still having the two ports on the iPhone open. I don't think Apple would do a flap.

Black and white mode only benefits OLED screens. Wouldn't have any impact on the iPhone as it stands right now.

You are correct; Apple was not the first with a fingerprint sensor, but Apple was the first to implement a sensor that worked very well. Samsung is using a fingerprint sensor technology that has been proven buggy, but they used it anyway on their very first top-end phone after the iPhone. That makes it copying.

Well it's not like they had/have a lot of choice. Samsung actually was a client/partner of Authentec before Apple acquired it. There are Samsung patents from 2011 (about a year before the TouchID rumors) that showed Samsung was interested in integrating a fingerprint scanner in a smartphone (which was also in the homebutton btw). Korean Patent Application No. 10-2011-0121829 and later also filed with USPTO. Sure they are late to the party but you can't really call it copying when they were investigating the possibility themselves.

The acquisition by Apple meant that all contracts were ended and Samsung thus needed to find another solution. Although I do agree that this solution seems somewhat (if not a lot) less efficient than Apple's. It would have been better for them to leave the fingerprint scanner for what it is for now and integrate it when it's 100% ready.

The flaw in your logic is that you assume the stuff they added actually works.

I knew from day one that Samsung would add a fingerprint sensor on the home button just like Apple would, and that it would be the same crappy and unreliable swipe sensor, along with the sh!tty software to make it work. They did not disappoint. If I could have bet money somewhere on this, I would so have jumped in.

I won't even start with the "Pleather" case design, or better yet... the band-aid design from a prior post, because the S5 is exactly that, an open wound for Samsung.

This just goes to show that Samsung on its own (Without Apple as it's R&D shop) can't do squat. Samsung is about as innovative as a pile of dirt.

Pretty much. What a pathetic company. A wipe sensor, really? Almost 5 months after Apple showed the world how it's done, Samsung responds (expectedly) by throwing in an infinitely shittier version of a fingerprint sensor- the same kind that plagued laptops for the past 2 decades, the ones that people never touched.

And yeah, if someone wants to check their pulse obviously they would go and make contact with their phone for that, instead of a wearable solution. How intuitive. And that leather? Hideous. And no 64bit? It seems like Samsung is running out of cheap tricks, and showing to the world that when the rubber hits the road, they can't move things forward or innovate worth a damn. That fingerprint reader is inexcusable.

Pretty much. What a pathetic company. A wipe sensor, really? Almost 5 months after Apple showed the world how it's done, Samsung responds (expectedly) by throwing in an infinitely shittier version of a fingerprint sensor- the same kind that plagued laptops for the past 2 decades, the ones that people never touched.

And yeah, if someone wants to check their pulse obviously they would go and make contact with their phone for that, instead of a wearable solution. How intuitive. And that leather? Hideous. And no 64bit? It seems like Samsung is running out of cheap tricks, and showing to the world that when the rubber hits the road, they can't move things forward or innovate worth a damn. That fingerprint reader is inexcusable.

That pulse thing is not the worst idea. I use an app to jog and do interval training and might use that, if the iPhone had one, I am not so sold on wearables.

I think its the other way around. Apple is always expected to innovate while Samsung and other have continually been given a free pass on innovation.

True, but there was a lot of hype around this. Rumors were 2K display, top of the line 64-bit processor, 3GB RAM and the pièce de résistance, a all metal unibody chassis. That was the one thing iPhone could hold over Galaxy's head...a metal design. Fanboys didn't get any of this. Same display, no top of the line processor and same fugly plastic design. They were hoping this was the one that would bury iPhone once and for all. And it isn't. Plus they know the chances of the new iPhone having a bigger display are almost 100% certain. Then what does Samsung have? Stylus?

I'm getting really good at prediction. I knew that this fingerprint sensor wouldn't be reliable and wouldn't work with one hand. Now the Verge confirms that. It wasn't hard, I just used my head knowing how swipe sensors work. But apparently fandroids where incapable of doing the same...

And a heart rate sensor on the back... No comment

Their new watch with a curved display doesn't look back. It's incredibly close to that recent iwatch concept video, even in its animations. But they couldn't have copied that, could they? I'm trying to imagine if that's possible.

Yeah, the problem with companies doing poor implementation just to be able to claim they have the feature is that then some people looking to switch to iPhone will think, "my old phone had fingerprint recognition too, but I never really used it."

Exactly. Those people will remain convinced that fingerprint scanning is a gimmick, simply because they haven't experienced it on an iPhone.

you have to excuse hill60. I think many of us are frustrated by Samsung's typical mode of operation ever since the release of the iPhone. Probably no excuse for being rude however.

@snova - never a problem... and as far as the frustration... yeah... I have boycotted the company. Sadly... we are still sending money Samsung's way by the very nature of buying Apple products... but hopefully that will change in these next few years.

so let me get this straight. Samsung's answer to the 5s with fingerprint scanner is the S5?? with a crap fingerprint scanner I feel another court case coming on. Trade Ban anyone.

the fact that you will need two hands to use the fingerprint scanner is not surprising as the 5.1" screen will need two hands and a warning label to lift. not to mention if i had one i would need to adjust all of my clothing's pockets before i could put it in any of them.

i imagine the waterproof feature would be great to use it in the kitchen as a chopping board with the added bonus that you can put it in the dishwasher afterwards. (hopefully it wouldn't turn on afterwards)

Everybody's pretty much covered everything here in comments quite well. The only thing I would say is regarding their fingerprint reader technology.

I would expect that the swipe system Samsung has implemented here is probably not the same, and probably a lot more advanced than those sensors we've all seen on cheap crap PCs. (this is just a guess). I look forward to see how their sensor / software system fares in actual users hands.

That said, I'm just glad that Apple made the move to scoop up Authentec, and go with their simple, one handed press sensor.

I rarely comment seriously on a subject as close to world values than this. When i see someone on my commute train with a Samsung i look at them with the same pity as the sad suit choked sad person sitting at the train table with his massive Windows plastic monstrosity, and his mouse and his disbelief. What i have came to understand is that this their reality. They don't know any different. It's like trying to battle creationism with science. You can beat people over the head with honest, well meant help and compassion, if they don't listen, move on. It's called triage. I know that one day i will live in a world with No Religion, No Windows, No android and we'll go on a mission that we may call a Star Trek.

To the future,

Children of Earth,

xox

You'd be surprised at how many do know different. Don't automatically assume that they've owned Samsung devices their entire life. I take the subway through hipster city and before the SGS 3 would see nothing but iPhones, now I see the very same hipsters but the SGS3/4:iPhone ratio is about 50/50 now.

"Few things are harder to put up with than the annoyance of a good example" Mark Twain"Just because something is deemed the law doesn't make it just" - SolipsismX

Perhaps not as elegant as Samsung's solution but you can already take your pulse with any iPhone with an LED flash.

SolipsismX,

not that I have a practical use for this, but could you PM me a link about if you have an App name that you have seen work? The engineer side of me is curious how this works. If its not overly expensive and actually works, I'd like to give it a try.

TIA

"Building for the future?! They should be running around reacting to the present!" -John Moltz

Everybody's pretty much covered everything here in comments quite well. The only thing I would say is regarding their fingerprint reader technology.

I would expect that the swipe system Samsung has implemented here is probably not the same, and probably a lot more advanced than those sensors we've all seen on cheap crap PCs. (this is just a guess). I look forward to see how their sensor / software system fares in actual users hands.

That said, I'm just glad that Apple made the move to scoop up Authentec, and go with their simple, one handed press sensor.

one would hope, but seems like the Verge says otherwise. At least based on the usage and result, it seems to play out like the old PC technology many have experienced.The fact that unlocking the phone is not as transparent as Apple's approach (i.e. you don't even know you are doing it), is enough to have to solution be undesirable to many.

"Building for the future?! They should be running around reacting to the present!" -John Moltz

Everybody's pretty much covered everything here in comments quite well. The only thing I would say is regarding their fingerprint reader technology.

I would expect that the swipe system Samsung has implemented here is probably not the same, and probably a lot more advanced than those sensors we've all seen on cheap crap PCs. (this is just a guess). I look forward to see how their sensor / software system fares in actual users hands.

That said, I'm just glad that Apple made the move to scoop up Authentec, and go with their simple, one handed press sensor.

From The Verge:

Quote:

Samsung’s version requires a vertical swipe over the home button to activate the scanner, and we found it to be quite unreliable and virtually impossible to activate when holding the phone in one hand.

Also, you can use the unreliable scanner for on-line purchases, like TouchID, except that:

Quote:

... or authenticate purchases online (Samsung is partnering with PayPal to enable this feature, though it doesn’t validate purchases from the Google Play Store).

SolipsismX,
not that I have a practical use for this, but could you PM me a link about if you have an App name that you have seen work? The engineer side of me is curious how this works. If its not overly expensive and actually works, I'd like to give it a try.

TIA

There are too many to name. I've tried several and they all seem to be accurate. Here is one that is straightforward and free.